Following the team with a unique perspective on all things Phillies.Email me: PhilliesPhollowers@comcast.net – Peace, Love & Baseball – Jenn

Oswalt’s Debut Is Disappointing

Roy Oswalt’s debut tonight in a Phillies uniform was a bit of a buzz kill.The last place Nationals smacked him around, scoring 5 runs in the first 5 innings.By the end of 6, Oswalt had given up 7 hits, 2 walks and hit 2 batters which accounted for 4 earned runs and 1 unearned.

On the other side, Nats pitcher Craig Stammen came into tonight’s game with a 5.50 ERA and only 2 wins in 19 starts.When he was done with the Phillies, Stammen looked like a Cy Young winner.The stuttering Phils offense managed only 5 hits; 2 of those were from Raul Ibanez and another two, including a solo homer, were from Jayson Werth.Rookie Domonic Brown had the 5th hit for the team in only his 2nd start in the big leagues.

The defense was a bit shaky as well. Carlos Ruiz did something I personally have never seen before.In the 3rd inning with 2 men on base, Adam Kennedy squared to bunt and Greg Dobbs at third base charged to field the bunt, as he was supposed to.Ruiz got the ball instead; he then had a brain cramp and threw the bunted ball to third base even though NO ONE was there to catch it.Yes, Ruiz threw the ball to nobody.And then a run scored.Wow.

Things continued to go downhill after Oswalt left the game.Chad Durbin pitched the 7th and gave up 3 runs on 3 hits and 2 walks.Down 8 to 1, the Phillies offense continued to do nothing.Brown got one more hit in the 9th inning, giving the Phillies 6 hits total from 3 players.And that was all the offense.Phillies lose, 8-1.

As for Oswalt, I suppose everyone is entitled to a bad day.It was just one start.We’ll see how it goes next time.By the way, in case anyone is interested, JA Happ made his first start for the Astros tonight; he gave up some walks, but only 2 hits and NO runs in 6 innings.

2 Comments

Jenn,
you would think that if you throw the ball, you are aiming at someone to catch it. Hey, have you noticed that this year they do not have MLB baseball bloopers? At least I have not seen any at Dodger Stadium, Petco Park, Anaheim and Fenway.
Emmahttp://crzblue.mlblogs.com

Disappointing indeed. I’m sure it wasn’t the kind of debut he was looking for, and it sure wasn’t the one that we wanted! After an 8 game win streak it’s hard to get down on a loss, but I was hoping we’d get something to be excited about last night. In all fairness though we’re going to have to give him some time… since he’s her for the next year and a half anyway. Chooch’s throw was crazy! He must have seen Michael Jackson’s ghost down there or something. That was really weird.

On another note. I always like your pictures. I have thought about getting a digital SLR camera in the future to try doing some of my own photography. My Cannon Elph isn’t cutting it at the ballpark. I know you’re a photo buff. What kinda lenses do you need to take pictures from so far away. As always, I enjoy your blog. Have a nice weekend.

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